Rebekah Boscariol Battles Cold, Darkness & Fatigue To Swim Across Lake OntarioOne person can truly make a difference.Rebekah this is for you and all the girls who had a dream and went for it.

Following her little sister's successful heart surgery at Toronto's Hospital For Sick Children, my 17 year old niece, Rebekah Boscariol, decided to pay it forward one stroke at a time. And now Rebekah Boscariol is in the history books.

Her 52 km journey across Lake Ontario was 15 hours and 33 minutes of heart-pounding, front-crawl from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Marilyn Bell Park in Toronto, retracing the original route swam by 16 year old Marilyn Bell, the first swimmer to cross Lake Ontario in 1954.

Among the youngest of only 55 registered swimmers to cross Lake Ontario, Rebekah is now also the third fastest female swimmer to make the journey just 23 minutes shy of the current women's record.

So far Rebekah has raised $40,000 in support of Toronto's Hospital For Sick Children.If you wish to donate go to www.swimthedistance.com

Update November 9, 2011Rebekah Boscariol has been selected as a nominee in the World Open Water Swimming Awards. Among the 41 people nominated world-wide, Rebekah was the only Canadian selected. Rebekah was nominated in the Performance of the Year category. Click here to show your support and vote for Rebekah. Voting closes December 31, 2011.